I just noticed this: the average workweek in the USA has declined to
34.1 hours (see
the BLS report: Employment Situation Summary). Last
year, the average television viewing time increased to 151
hours per month, or 5.03 hours per day in a 30-day month, which
comes out to 35.23 hours per week. We now spend more
time watching TV than we spend working.

Comments

In April, the average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased
by 0.1 hour to 34.1 hours. The manufacturing workweek for all employees increased by
0.2 hour for the second straight month to 40.1 hours, and factory overtime was up by
0.1 hour over the month. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory em-
ployees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.4 hours in April.

A lot of companies like having employees work 34 hours a week. They can declare them part-time and deny them benefits that way. Companies can hold down insurance costs by having two tiers of benefits packages, and holding as many positions as possible in the part-time category. 34 hours per week thus becomes the perfect number of hours. They can even work several hours over their shifts, and still not make fulltime status – and not have to be compensated overtime pay rates. No wonder a lot of companies are going for that solution.

Also a hidden fact in these data are that a lot of the workers who hold a 34-hr/wk job also hold a second 20-30hr/wk job.

Bottom line: I see a lot of folks working 50-60hrs a week, but at anywhere from one to three jobs.

It’s easier to get overtime in a factory environment if sales are up. If sales are up, you can justify small amounts of overtime for the factory workers.

For other types of jobs the relationship between increased sales and increased hours isn’t so clear. So hiring on more full-time employees is harder unless you can clearly show a directly proportional increase in profits.

The Khan Academy’s website offers a library of 1200+ educational video covering most subjects from basic arithmetic and algebra to physics, chemistry, biology, history and finance. All videos are made by Salman Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy.

The Khan Academy

The Khan Academy’s website offers a library of 1200+ educational video covering most subjects from basic arithmetic and algebra to physics, chemistry, biology, history and finance. All videos are made by Salman Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy.